Thursday, April 30, 2009

As Australia's New South Wales motorcycle clubs unite to fight new legislation, (which John our International President has refered to in previous posts), news media was granted access to a clubhouse gathering to hear statements brought on their behalf. Much of the following media coverage not only gives some insight into the clubs but also some of God's Squad's role among them as 'Fish' spoke on behalf of the combined meeting. As a rule you will not generally see images of other clubs displayed on any of our sites, but because of the context of this situation, on this occasion we are happy to provide the following links.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Renea has spent months building up a new bike - and squeezing a Evo motor in a shovel frame. In his words ... 'the seat post and front down tubes have both been raised 30mm. Front down tubes are now 6mm thick so I could carv enough out to clear front rocker box as well.This means longer forks to get same ground clearance. motor is tight but I should be able to get top end off in the frame still.'

Monday, April 27, 2009

At 5am Saturday morning we rode off on the traditional run to the Anzac Day service at the shrine of Remembrance. Down under it is a national moment of reflection and respect. (and as part of this traditional we always roll down to the Fitz cafe for breakfast afterwards and celebrate Marshalls birthday - Happy Birthday Marsh!!).

Sunday, April 26, 2009

In the bible there are more than 300 verses regarding the poor and though i am not a fan of taking verses without chapters, without books and without context for the sake of this exercise (and so I don’t need to type out the whole bible right here, right now) i will jump on one of these verses...

In the Old Testament - Jer. 22:3 - it says ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place’...

Now we were talking the other morning about powerlessness in the context of Squad. And we were suggesting that our call to fight for justice, to stand with those in pain and to show love is wider than just to the patch members of the scene... there are nameless and faceless people who are at the edges of every club we walk into. The guys that are not cool enough, don’t look quite right, are difficult - or strange. and these guys aren't just hanging around club houses - they are also in our midst.

Over the past week in Australia we have seen the boat of a group of Asylum seekers explode in flames with people dead, drowned and burnt. We have seen the worst of humanity in people smugglers making money and an opportunistic opposition party trying to score political points at the expense of desperate people... and in the medicos and others - some of the best as they go about healing people because they are people.

Politics aside,we are also seeing humanity at its most naked as we observe our brothers and sisters from another shore cry out to be seen and accepted.

Having the smallest glimpse of what it must be like to be truly powerless - and listening to God’s words about our response to the poor has challenged me again about how to respond to those who are powerless. I am again challenged on how my position of privilege can be used for justice and peace. In the case of those fleeing to our borders. I am commanded to listen to the asylum seeker - to ask questions - to understand why, that for most asylum seekers, even being in detention is better than where they have fled from... And personally i do believe that ultimately to say yes to safe harbour, is Gods call to us.

.My wife tells a story. In africa you greet one another with the words. Sawo bono. ‘I see you’ and the response means ‘i have been seen’.

Back to squad... for most blokes seeking acceptance, being associated with a club will always be infinitely better than where they have come from even if they are never accepted fully and get their colours.. What we wear on our backs is incredibly powerful and marks us as men of privilege.

We belong. we have been seen and we have been accepted.

So ... as we look around us, who are the ones amongst us who are seeking refuge? What does it mean for us as individuals and as a system to ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor’.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Much of God's Squad's early history was featured in John Smith's first book, his autobiography, 'On The Side Of The Angels' first published in the mid 80's. In more recent times however, it has been republished and updated, with an additional chapter covering the subsequent twenty years adding to the already existing challenging story and message. Although available in Australia it has not been easily available in the UK and Europe . . until now that is.

See the right hand side of this page for buyings options. Any profits from these specific sales go directly back into associated ministry efforts.

We hope also to be able to provide online purchase options for Australia and also for John's recently UNOH published book 'Sharpening The Cutting Edge'"John Smith's message is for people who want to do more than just listen" Bono, U2

... A Brief Introduction ...

God's Squad was established in the late 1960's in Sydney, Australia and founded on a broader basis, under the leadership of John Smith, in Melbourne 1972, where the club colours have been flown ever since. The club primarily exists to minister among the 'outlaw biker fraternity' and associated groups, where it is an accepted and relevant expression of the Christian church. Since it's birth, out of the counter culture Jesus movement days of the late 60's it has continued, over three decades, to devote it's efforts amongst those on the fringes of society.

For more details and chapter links go to the main website at gscmc.com